Elite/Sternguard Veteran Squad/Strategy
"Victory often rests on the correct weaponry being in the right place and at the right time. Even the most destructive weapons of war are worthless if absent from the battle." ''-Artor Amhrad, Chapter Master of the Astral Knights (Codex: Space Marines, 5th Edition, Page 79).'' Sternguard Basics (2.0.10): The Sternguard upgrade to Tactical Marines replaces the upgrade slot used by the Tactical Marine Sergeant upgrade after it has been purchased. The Sternguard upgrade is available in Tier 2 as soon as the Tactical Marine Seargent upgrade has been purchased and the Space Marine player has the required resources to purchase the Sternguard. Sternguard always begin at level one. It may be a mistake to purchase the Sternguard upgrade if the Tactical Marine squad that would be replaced has already accumulated several levels of experience. (As of the 2.1 Beta, a Tactical Marine squad that is in the process of upgrading into a Sternguard squad will stop moving or attacking for the duration of the upgrade. This leaves the Tactical Marines momentarily vulnerable to enemy attacks. It may be necessary to cancel the Sternguard upgrade in order to restore a Tactical Marine squad's mobility if they come under attack while upgrading.) Sternguard Ammunition Types and Uses (2.0.10): ' ''Kraken Rounds: Kraken rounds provide a 30% damage buff against heavily armored infantry like Chaos Space Marines or Space Marines. Kraken rounds do not suffer any damage penalty against light infantry armor or hero armor, but are ineffective against vehicle armor. Vengeance Rounds: Vengeance rounds do additional damage to heavily armored infantry and vehicles. As of 2.0.10 Vengeance rounds do significantly more damage to heavy infantry models than Kraken rounds. (As of the 2.1 Beta, Vengeance rounds have decreased range similar to their tabletop counterparts.) Hellfire Rounds: Hellfire rounds produce a damage over time effect when used against light infantry armor or hero armor. Dragonfire Rounds: Dragonfire rounds do additional damage to targets in buildings and suffer no damage penalty when utilized against targets behind cover. Dragonfire rounds are less damage efficient in a straight shoot out than any of the other three round types (20% damage penalty). 'Sternguard Ammunition Tactics (2.0.10): ' The following analysis operates from a pure DPS perspective, and does not take into consideration cover, range, or other context sensitive strategic elements: Because Vengeance rounds do more damage to heavy infantry and vehicles than Kraken rounds do, and Hellfire rounds do more damage to both light armor and hero armor than Kraken rounds, Kraken rounds are best utilized against mixed-armor unit types. A prime example of one such unit is a squad of Chaos Heretics with the Aspiring Champion upgrade. Normally Chaos Heretics would make ideal targets for Hellfire rounds, however, if the Sternguard happen to target the Aspiring Champion with their attacks the Hellfire damage over time effect will not activate. Because the Aspiring Champion will not die until all other models in the Chaos Heretic squad are destroyed, the Sternguard will continue to damage the heavily armored Aspiring Champion while heretics die in his place. This effectively grants the heretic squad heavy armor. Since there is no way to control whether the Sternguard target heretic models, or the Aspiring Champion model, the most efficient solution is to use Kraken rounds which do not suffer a damage penalty against the lightly armored heretics, and will result in 30% additional damage to the squad as a whole if the Sternguard begin targeting the aspiring champion. Against single-armor type squads Sternguard should rely on either Vengeance rounds (if the target is heavy infantry or a vehicle) or Hellfire rounds (if the target is a hero or light infantry). These two ammunition types will allow the Sternguard to maximize their damage output against most foes. ('''Note: As of the 2.1 Beta, Vengeance rounds have decreased range. As such, there may be situations where the additional range offered by Kraken Rounds allow the Sternguard to counter heavily armored infantry without exposing themselves to the extra risk of moving close enough to use Vengeance Rounds.) Dragonfire rounds ignore cover and do greatly increased damage to squads garrisoned in buildings. Against enemies in cover switching to Dragonfire rounds may not be as effective as sticking with Vengeance rounds or Hellfire rounds, but will work more efficiently than Kraken rounds. Dragonfire rounds should always be utilized against an enemy foolish enough to try and bunker-up against the Sternguard. ''For the Emprah!. ''